Materials moving apparatus



June 1, 1954 J. w. BERG 2,679,973

MATERIAL MOVING APPARATUS Filed June 8, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 36 w a .0 Jafmhdfie/ q BY I'iy. vz. IE I ATTO/PA/E June 1, 1954 J. W. B E RG j 7 97 MATERIAL MOVING APPARATUS Fi led June' 8, :19

' s e t 2 Patented June 1, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims. 1

This invention has to do with means for conveying materials of various characteristics such as small grains through the medium of a pneumatic pump so arranged in connection with a separator and a feeder that the conveyed material by-passes the pneumatic pump, the primary object being to improve upon the materials handling equipment forming the subject matter of my co-pending application Serial No. 117,043, filed September 21, 1949, now Patent No. 2,639,350.

This is a continuation in part of the aforesaid co-pending application and has for its most important object to improve upon the system disclosed by said co-pending application through the medium of a. pump arrangement having parts and arrangements capable of moving the materials with high efiiciency because of elimination to a considerable extent of pressure losses in the inlet and outlet conduits of the pump itself.

Another object of this invention equally as important as that just above set forth is to provide a pneumatic pump for materials handling equipment that includes an eccentric, rotatable drum having a driven plate reciprocably carried thereby whereby to reduce to a considerable degree the friction that is normally present in pumps of this character resulting in the generation of tremendous heat and thereby excessive wear.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of a pneumatic pump for material conveyors having a cylindrical housing that eccentrically carries a rotatable drum in turn provided with a slidable plate traversing the housing and interconnected with the means for driving the drum so as to reciprocate the plate within the drum, thereby eliminating the drag of the plate on the inner walls of the housing as the pump is placed in operation.

Other objects of this invention include the way in which the aforesaid slidable plate is in turn optionally provided with reciprocable end vanes; the manner of arranging the intake and discharge conduits so as to eliminate pressure losses; the way in which the pressure on the suction side of the reciprocable plate is increased automatically just prior to opening into the discharge conduit; and many other more minor objects includ ing details of construction and arrangement, all of which will be made clear or become apparent as the following specification progresses.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a materials moving apparatus made pursuant to my present invention, parts being broken away and in section to reveal details of construction.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, cross-sectional view taken on line II-II of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, enlarged, cross-sectional View taken on line III-III of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, parts being additionally broken away and in section for clearness.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, vertical, sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detailed, cross-sectional View taken on line VV of Fig. 4.

As in the case of the materials handling equipment disclosed in my presently pending application above identified, the apparatus forming the subject matter hereof is designed primarily for the handling of grain such as wheat, oats, corn and the like so as to move the same from one point to another-irrespective of the differences in the height between the point of supply and the point of ultimate discharge. Necessary component parts of apparatus of this character include a separator broadly designated by the numeral [0 that comprises simply a hollow body having a ma terials intake tube l2 communicating therewith.

Tube [2 constitutes a substantially L-shaped pipe hi that extends into one side of the separator id and has the short leg thereof discharging downwardly toward an outlet opening i6 formed in the bottom of separator I B.

It is to be noted that the outlet end of the pipe l4 terminates well below the center of the separator l0. Intake tube [2 includes additionally an elongated, flexible section I8 that leads into the materials being handled by the apparatus hereof. A system of this character includes additionally a feeder broadly designated by the numeral 20 that constitutes a rotatable vaned drum located immediately below the outlet opening it of separator it! and that continuously rotates during the operation of the conveyor assembly.

The feeder 20 should be so arranged as to continuously move the material from separator it into a horizontal discharge conduit 22 underlying feeder 29 without substantial effect upon the normal air movement through the apparatus.

The improvements of the present invention relate to a rotary, pneumatic pump broadly designated by the numeral 24 having the discharge conduit 22 above mentioned and an elongated inlet conduit 26. Conduit 25 extends into the separator l0 through the bottom thereof at one side of the outlet l6 and at an angle as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

It is notable that the uppermost open end of the inlet conduit 26 terminates well above the outlet end of pipe is and relatively close to the uppermost wall of separator it. The arrangements of the conduits 22 and 26, as well as the intake tube l2, while extremely important, are fully covered by my co-pending application and form no part of the present invention.

The pneumatic pump 24 includes a cylindrical housing 28 having its axis horizontal and its ends closed by a pair of opposed parallel vertical, removable plates 36 and 32. A pair of side-by-side elongated parallel slots 35 formed in the housing 28 communicate directly with the inlet conduit 26 and similar slots (it relatively close to slots 3'3 but separated therefrom as shown in Fig. 2, register directly with the discharge conduit 22. Conduits 22 and 26 are removably joined with the housing 28 as is indicated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive.

An elongated drum 38, preferably circular in cross-section as shown in Fig. i, is eccentrically mounted within the housing 23 for rotation on an axis parallel with the horizontal axis of the housing 28 through the medium of an integral shaft 40 extending concentrically from one end thereof through the plate 32. A bearing 42 in plate 32 rotatably receives the shaft 4 3 and a cavity 4 3 on the innermost face of plate 32, is compleniental with the drum 38 and rotatably receives the same at one end thereof. The opposite end of the drum 3%; may be likewise supported if desired, but as shown, the same terminates relatively close to the innermost face of plate 30.

The drum 38 is provided with a slot d6 that extends diametrically therethrough and slidably receives a flat, polygonal plate d8. Plate 53 spans the distance between the innermost faces of plates 38 and 32 and as illustrated in Fig. 4, is of substantially the same width as the diameter of the housing 28.

The plate 48 rigidly carries an elongated shaft 50 that is disposed midway between the longitudinal edges thereof and extends outwardly through an opening 52 in the plate 3B. A block Ed on the outermost face of plate 39, is housed within a case 55 removably secured to the plate 39 and carrying a stub shaft 53 for the block a l.

It is to be noted that the shaft 58 is concentric with the opening 52 parallel with the shafts 4B and 58 and with the axis of housing 28, but offset with respect to shafts ie and 58 and the axis of housing 28. Block 5 5 carries a bearing t!) for that end of shaft 56 that projects through opening 52 and into case 53, thereby mounting shaft 50 eccentrically with respect to the axis of rotation 58 of block 54. The shaft Q8 and accordingly the drum 38, are driven by sheave $2 on shaft 40 having connection through the medium of a belt 64 that may be trained about the drive pulley of any suitable prime mover not shown. The feeder 29 is driven by the same prime mover through the medium of pulleys 6E and 68 on the shaft 56 and the shaft of feeder respectively, which pulleys E6 and 68 are interconnected by a continuous belt 6.

The plates and 32 carry an elongated shaft 72 exteriorly of housing 28 in parallelism with all of the shafts thus far mentioned and with the axis of housing 28, together with a pair of stub shafts T4 and 76 respectively that are axially aligned and rigid to the outermost face of the corresponding plate 30 or 32. A train of intermeshed gears 18, 80 and 82 are carried by shafts 40, T6 and 12 respectively, gears 78 and 82 being rigid to the respective shafts and gear being rotatable on the shaft 16. Likewise, a train of gears 84, 86 and 88 are carried by shafts 58, 74 and i2 respectively, the gears 84 and 88 being rigid to their shafts and the gear 86 being rotatable on shaft 14. The shaft 58 is splined or otherwise afixed directly to the block 54 and it is accordingly seen that as rotative movement is imparted to shaft 46 to rotate eccentric drum 38, the block 54 will be rotated in the same direction as indicated by arrows in Fig. 4. The circular path of travel of the shaft 50 indicated in Fig. 4 is accordingly around the shaft 58 with the latter as its axis, and the opening 52 is sufliciently large to permit such path of travel of the shaft 50.

It is to be noted that as the drum 38 and the plate 68 rotate together, the shaft 52 rotates on its own axis within the bearing 60 and passes through the axes of drum 38 and housing 28 during each revolution about axis 58. Consequently, the shaft 50 imparts reciprocable move ment to the slidable plate 48 as the shaft 58 moves from one edge of slot 3% to the other edge thereof and back during each complete cycle of rotation of drum 38.

If desired, the width of the plate 38 could be substantially the same or only slightly less than the diameter of housing 28, but the edges of the plate 48 may each be provided with an elongated flat, relatively narrow vane 96, each mounted in a groove 92 for free sliding movement therein transversely of the corresponding vane 96. As shown in Fig. 3, the length of the vanes 99 is only slightly less than the distance bet vveen the plates 38 and 32. As the drum 38 rotates, the vanes 90 will remain in engagement with the inner face of the housing 28 by centrifugal force and while spring means may be provided Within cavities 92 to urge the vanes 96 outwardly against the inner face of housing 28, such is found not to be necessary in the construction herein shown.

Each plate 38 and 32 is provided with an elongated port near the bottom thereof and spaced slightly from the outlet slots 36 of housing 28 in a direction counter to the direction of rotation of drum 33 and plate $8. The width of each port 94 is substantially the same as the thickness of plate '58. As shown, the ports 94 are disposed between vertical, parallel planes through shafts cc and 58 respectively with their longitudinal axes at an angle with respect thereto. Additionally, each port 94 has its longitudinal axis within a plane passing diametrically through the drum 38 and the axis of rotation thereof. Each port 94 respectively is covered by a cup $36 on the outermost face of the corresponding plate as or 32 that in turn receives a flat plate 88 having a cross-sectional area less than that of the port 94 and cup 96 and reciprocable toward and away from the housing 28 as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5. The outermost vertical wall of each cup 98 is provided with a plurality of perforations Hi8 and reciprocably mounts a spring-loaded guide 02 for the plate 98. The perforations 2% are normally held closed by the plate 9 through the medium of the spring bias on guide m2.

In operation, the flexible section is of material intake tube 12, is positioned within the material to be conveyed and a flexible section I04 of discharge conduit 22 is positioned at the desired point of deposit of the material such as in a bin or transporting vehicle.

Upon energization of the single prime mover for belt 64, the drum 38, plate 48, block 54, shaft 50 and feeder 28 are simultaneously rotated. As the drum 38 rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 4, the plate 48 is caused to reciprocate within the slot 48 while the vanes 98 remain in contact with the inner face of housing 28. Reduced pressure in inlet conduit 28 causes the material to be drawn into the material intake tube I 2 for discharge into separator I8 through the open end of pipe I4. The material thereupon gravitates through outlet IB and is fed into discharge conduit 22 for pump 24 by means of feeder 20. Because of the fact that the material drops downwardly in separator I9, and by virtue of the disposition of the inlet end of conduit 28, well above the pipe l4, no material will be caused to pass into the pump 24. As the plate 48 moves from the full line position shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing toward the dotted line position shown in said figure, pressure between plate 48 and the outlet slots 36 acting upon the plates 98, will maintain the perforations I 88 in the normally closed position shown in Fig. 5. Such condition will exist while the plate 48 moves to a position closing the ports 94, but as soon as the plate 48 continues toward the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4, the plates 98 will open against the action of the spring load thereon because of the reduced pressure behind plate 48. Atmospheric pressure will enter the perforations of both cups 96 until such time as the pressure behind plate 48 is equal to the atmospheric pressure. As the pressure rises by virtue of the action of plate 48, the two plates 88 will be forced back to the closed position in a direction opposite to the arrow in Fig. 5 of the drawings, Consequently, as the plates 48 move to a point where one vane 98 commences to traverse the slots 38, there will be no reduced pressure within the housing 28 tending to adversely eifect the intended movement of air in discharge conduit 22 from slots 88 toward the flexible section I04.

It is to be noted that the drum 38 is disposed relatively close to the inner face of housing 28 between the inlet conduit 28 and the discharge conduit 22 and that therefore, these two conduits are never in direct communication.

By virtue of the direct drive for plate 48 causing the same to reciprocate within the slot 48, plate 48 will always be held out of contact with the housing 28 and therefore, no frictional engagement to produce heat and wear, as well as drag on the prime mover, will be present. The only interengagement that occurs is between the vanes 98 and the housing 28 which, of course, is negligible and the heat and wear that is caused thereby will have very little detrimental eifect upon the operation or lasting qualities of the pump 24.

It can now be appreciated that a system of this character for moving grain by by-passing the pump can be rendered operable through the medium of a pumping means such as just above described and while details of construction relating to features other than the pump 24, as well as details of construction of the latter, may be changed or modified, it is desired to be limited only by the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a rotary pump having a cylindrical housing, a slotted drum in the housing mounted for rotation eccentrically with respect to the axis of said housing provided with a driven element, and a housing-traversing plate slidably mounted in the slot of said drum, means on the plate and rotatable with the drum for reciprocating the plate in said slot as said plate rotates with the drum, said means comprising a shaft parallel with the axis of rotation of the drum and rigidly secured to the plate; a member carried by th housing for rotation on an axis parallel with said axis of the drum; means connecting the shaft and the member for rotation of the shaft relative to the member; and means operably interconnecting the shaft and said driven element for rotating the member from the driven element as the latter is driven to rotate the drum, said member being disposed exteriorly of the housing, said housing having an opening therein for clearing the shaft as the latter revolves about the axis of rotation of the member.

2. In a rotary pump, a cylindrical housing provided with an inlet and an outlet and a pair of end walls; a slotted drum in the housing mounted for rotation on an axis disposed eccentrically with respect to the axis of the housing; a housing traversing plate slidably mounted in the slot of the drum and spanning the distance between said end walls, one of the end walls being provided with an air inlet port adjacent the outlet opening and between the inlet and outlet openings in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the drum and the plate; and a normally closed valve in said inlet port adapted for opening in response to creation of a suction in the housing adjacent the air inlet port.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,252,841 Reed Jan. 8, 1918 1,322,764 Crago Nov. 25, 1919 1,382,065 Crago June 21, 1921 1,846,557 Imshenetsky Feb. 23, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 440,913 Great Britain Jan. 8, 1936 577,043 Germany May 26, 1933 595,639 Great Britain Dec. 11, 1947 

